JIS Services

Commanding Officer of the St. James Division, Supt. Newton Amos, has praised the National Intelligence Bureau of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) for gleaning valuable information that might have saved the lives of members of the JCF who went on an operation in Canterbury, St. James on Wednesday (October 15). Commissioner of Police, Francis Forbes quoted Superintendent Amos as saying: “We could have lost several members had it not been for good intelligence and good planning”, while speaking at a press conference on October 15, where he also discussed the Force’s Reform and Modernization Programme. The National Intelligence Bureau will administer some of the new strategies being employed by the JCF to improve accountability and effectiveness. Other strategies to be implemented include the establishment of a Professional Standards Branch and a Performance Monitoring and Auditing Bureau (PMAB). Elaborating on the purpose of the National Intelligence Bureau, Commissioner Forbes said that the Bureau would be the main coordinating unit of existing intelligence arms, and that the structure of the unit would be replicated in each police division. He said that the Bureau would become the focal point in getting to the stage where intelligence-led policing became a reflex action. This type of policing, would “become the norm,” the Commissioner stressed. The Professional Standards Branch, he noted, will focus on the conduct of police personnel. This unit, Mr. Forbes explained, would replace the Office of Professional Responsibility, the Police Public Complaints Authority and Internal Affairs. The Performance Monitoring and Auditing Bureau, he said, would concentrate on quality control and would replace the Inspections Branch. “They will audit and monitor divisions,” he explained, “to ensure that procedures are followed, and best practices identified for replication across the Force”. Commissioner Forbes also said that there would be significant emphasis on training and its decentralization. “In order to fulfil our training responsibilities, there is the need for the decentralization of training. Everybody can’t be trained at Twickenham Park,” the Commissioner pointed out. Mr. Forbes also informed that the training courses at the Jamaica Police Academy and the Jamaica Constabulary Staff College were to be redesigned.